Could 2020 Be The Year We See 6" G.I. Joe Figures From Hasbro?

GI Joe

by Jay Cochran
January 2, 2020

2020 seems to be shaping up as a pretty good year for action figure collectors who grew up in the 80's. Mattel plans to bring He-Man back to mass retail with its new Masters of the Universe: Origins line. Super 7 is working to bring ThunderCats fans highly detailed 7" Ultimates figures which hopefully will allow collectors finally to finish out the main team in modern form. Various companies such as NECA and Super7 are bringing fans highly detailed collector-oriented Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and McFarlane Toys will bring DC Comics figures to shelves in a big way this year.

Then there is Hasbro. Arguably the leading toy company in the boys' action figure game, they already bring fans 6" figures for Star Wars, Power Rangers, and Marvel as well as pretty cool G1-inspired Transformers, which this year will include Earthrise figures. But what about G.I. Joe? Deemed as one of the staples of boys' action figures in the 80's, G.I. Joe has been missing from retail shelves for several years now. Could that change in 2020, and if so does that mean Hasbro will finally give fans some action figures of their favorite Real American Heroes in classic uniforms for the 6" scale?

For the first part of the question of whether G.I. Joe will return to retail this year, the answer (while not confirmed) seems most likely yes. Reports indicate a new G.I.Joe movie that focuses on the team's most popular member Snake-Eyes will see a release in October 2020. If a new movie does happen, that virtually guarantees G.I.Joe toys will happen as well. Retailers are always much more inclined to carry toys backed by a major motion picture release. We have also seen reports of Hasbro filling key positions needed to get G.I.Joe toys back to market, such as John Reale's role overseeing the line as Vice President, Global Design and Development at Hasbro. There also have been rumors of a new G.I. Joe Evergreen line in the works.

For the second part of the question of whether we might see 6" Marvel Legends-style G.I. Joe figures from Hasbro, well that is more complicated. While 6" figures have become a very popular scale for Hasbro in recent years, there is no denying that G.I.Joe since the 80's were always first and foremost a 3 3/4" line. If Hasbro tried to release 6" figures without also releasing 3 3/4", my guess is that you would see a revolt from a large segment of the collector population. Of course Hasbro could try to do both scales, but even with a movie it's not clear how excited retailers will be carrying G.I. Joe again. The previous two movies certainly seemed to do little to boost popularity for the brand. In fact, some might even argue that it had the reverse effect. So will retailers want to carry Joe figures in varying scales, or will they want to stick with what's cheapest and most attractive to kids? It's possible we won't even see highly detailed 3 3/4" scale figures released in any large way as those tend to cost more. For a collector line, the larger retailers might prefer to carry 6" figures over 3 3/4" ones as 6" figures are generally seen as giving people more for the money they spend.

I have no doubt G.I. Joe will see a return to retail soon, at least for a bit when the movie comes out. The big question in my mind is will the line be able to continue beyond a movie and will it be strong enough to allow Hasbro to do more than just the basic kids stuff - like collector oriented 6" and 3 3/4" figures?

If you had to choose one scale for collector oriented G.I. Joe figures to be done in, which scale would you choose?

Shown below are 6" Custom figures done by BoreDad Cuctoms.

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Comments...

Last 10 comments - ( Read All Posts )

fperkins - 2020-01-31 @ 10:07 pm

With 570 Star Wars Black Series Figures, 700+ Marvel legends, collecting a few more GI Joe figures can't hurt, right? I still remember collecting the comic books and also regret not keeping them and selling them for almost nothing to a comic book store.

SubZero - 2020-01-17 @ 5:15 pm

1 hour ago, mako said:
I'm not even against a 1/12th Joe line per-se, (if such a thing actually happens) I just thought the irony of the situation was to great not to be noted.
Another thought that just now occurs to me: IF this rumored 1/12th line Hasbro is allegedly doing to support the Snake-Eyes movie does happen, we only assume it would be some "Black Series"/"Lightning Collection' type affair. What if it turned out to be one of those 5 POA kiddie lines Hasbro releases with every MCU movie? It certainly wouldn't be the first time they released a crap-line to support a Joe-film.
Just something to think about.

Rise of Cobra and Retaliation had some good figures

Elite Viper

Air Raid

Bench Press

Bruce Willis

Ultimate Storm Shadow

Red Ninja

JayC - 2020-01-17 @ 4:43 pm

51 minutes ago, mako said:
I'm not even against a 1/12th Joe line per-se, (if such a thing actually happens) I just thought the irony of the situation was to great not to be noted.
Another thought that just now occurs to me: IF this rumored 1/12th line Hasbro is allegedly doing to support the Snake-Eyes movie does happen, we only assume it would be some "Black Series"/"Lightning Collection' type affair. What if it turned out to be one of those 5 POA kiddie lines Hasbro releases with every MCU movie? It certainly wouldn't be the first time they released a crap-line to support a Joe-film.
Just something to think about.

There is kids stuff coming but this isnt that. This is collector stuff, at least based on what multiple sources have said to me. The main give-away I think is the $20 price. We will of course have to wait for Hasbro to officially confirm before we know 100%.

mako - 2020-01-17 @ 3:52 pm

13 hours ago, Roadpigmaster said:
You got a good point...

I'm not even against a 1/12th Joe line per-se, (if such a thing actually happens) I just thought the irony of the situation was to great not to be noted.

Another thought that just now occurs to me: IF this rumored 1/12th line Hasbro is allegedly doing to support the Snake-Eyes movie does happen, we only assume it would be some "Black Series"/"Lightning Collection' type affair. What if it turned out to be one of those 5 POA kiddie lines Hasbro releases with every MCU movie? It certainly wouldn't be the first time they released a crap-line to support a Joe-film.

Just something to think about.

JayC - 2020-01-17 @ 3:00 pm

16 hours ago, mako said:
I'm legitimately surprised this is getting as positive a buzz as it's getting. You guys realize Hasbro has already tried this three times before, all three times were stinkers.
Nobody wants a new Joe-line more than me, but are we REALLY looking for a repeat of Sgt. Savage, Extreme or Sygma 6?

Not really the same thing. All those lines you speak of had very disperportioned cartoony designes, though honestly Sygma 6 was a pretty solid line in it's weird way. We are talking for the most part upsized versions of the 80's Joes with Marvel Legends style articulation. I've been covering this stuff for 20 yrs and I can tell you even back in the early 2000's there was interest in seeing a Marvel Legends style line for Joe.

Roadpigmaster - 2020-01-17 @ 1:58 am

3 hours ago, mako said:
I'm legitimately surprised this is getting as positive a buzz as it's getting. You guys realize Hasbro has already tried this three times before, all three times were stinkers.
Nobody wants a new Joe-line more than me, but are we REALLY looking for a repeat of Sgt. Savage, Extreme or Sygma 6?

You got a good point...

mako - 2020-01-16 @ 10:40 pm

I'm legitimately surprised this is getting as positive a buzz as it's getting. You guys realize Hasbro has already tried this three times before, all three times were stinkers.

Nobody wants a new Joe-line more than me, but are we REALLY looking for a repeat of Sgt. Savage, Extreme or Sygma 6?

Belmont13 - 2020-01-16 @ 7:53 pm

I still don't think that I would commit to an entire line of GI Joe 6'' figures but if Hasbro makes a Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow with the articulation of the Power Ranger Lightning series and the sculpting detail of the Black Series, my wallet is going to be in trouble.

SolemStrike - 2020-01-16 @ 6:10 pm

I'm not sold on the 6 inch scale. I loved the look of the Sigma 6 figures but passed on many of those as well because of the size. The 2 inch scale was good for vehicles but the figures were lacking in articulation. With the lack of G.I.Joe on shelves I've looked elsewhere for good figures. Joy Toy has a couple different sizes in figures and the articulation is superb on both the 1:25 scale and 1:18 scale! I've also been impressed with the articulation on the Mega Construx mini figures. Hexa Gear from Kotobukiya is also another line I have purchased from and they are in line with the smaller scale on 1:25. I've always liked the smaller scale figures as I only have so much space.

Roadpigmaster - 2020-01-15 @ 7:30 pm

1 hour ago, JayC said:
Hasbro did 4" figures in the exact style of the original Kenner Star Wars but not 6". They have released 6" Black series figures on Kenner like cardbacks but the figures themselves where modern figures. These Joe figures I believe will be made to look like their 80's versions as far as outfits and such but they should be modern sculpts similar to Black Series, Power Rangers Lightning Collection and Marvel Legends.

Oh ok... I saw those figures from the Star Wars Black Series and they look good...

Now the question is if these figures are going to just look like the 25th anniversary but on a 6" inch scale...

If that's the case I'll not be sold on them...

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